Until a couple of years ago, I had never heard of Tri-tip. Maybe I live under a rock, or maybe it is an American cut that we don’t often see in Canada? It started showing up in many of the food magazines and cooking blogs I read, so I started to look for it in stores. Turns out, is always available at our local Costco now that I know to look for it. It is a flavourful cut and I am glad we finally discovered it.

Tri-tip is a triangular cut of meat, with a fairly decent fat cap, from near the sirloin part of the cow. Like flank steak, it needs to be sliced thinly, across the grain in order for it to be tender. The grain can change throughout the cut, so watch for that, and change the direction of your slicing accordingly.

These cooking instructions will give you a nice rare – medium rare finish, and we find that is the best cook for this cut.

Do not skip the resting part! Make your salad, warm your garlic bread, have another glass of wine…whatever you need to do to keep yourself from cutting into that meat before it has properly rested!! Resting gives the meat time to absorb its juices back into itself. Ignore this step, and all those flavourful juices will end up on the plate, instead of the meat, where they belong. Unless of course, you enjoy your a tasteless steak with a dry, grainy texture.

Tri-Tip with Smoked Paprika-Sesame Seed Rub and Chimichurri

For the steak

1 Tablespoon sesame seeds

1 Tablespoon smoked paprika

2 Tablespoons canola oil

1 3/4 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

2 lb piece of tri-tip

For the Chimichurri

1/4 cup white wine vinegar

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

3 cups parsley, finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon liquid honey

1/2 cup olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Prepare gas grill for indirect heat (leave one or two burners off). Place steak on one of the un-lit burners, cover and grill, turning only once, 20 – 30 minutes. An instant read thermometer, inserted into thickest part should read 115 F.

Move steak to direct heat and grill until lightly charred, about 2 minutes per side. Temperature will increase to 120 F. Transfer to cutting board and let rest 15 minutes before thinly slicing against the grain.

While the steak is resting, toss the vinegar, garlic, red pepper flakes, parsley, oil and salt to taste together and mix well.

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One thing we do not have here in the Bahia de Banderas is a good Korean restaurant. Many times in the 10 years we have lived here, I have longed for a seat in those plastic tables and chairs that grace the Bulgogi House in Edmonton. The memories of meals enjoyed there are still with me.

So, when Tasting Table published this recipe by Chris Oh, the chef of L.A.’s Hanjip restaurant, I thought I would give it a try. This is easy to put together, the marinade time is short and the results are tasty.

I did this in a cast iron pan on the stove, but next time, I will toss it on the grill for even more flavour.

In a large bowl, whisk together the water, soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, garlic and onion powders, and Korean red pepper flakes until the sugar has dissolved. Add the sliced rib eye and let marinate for 1 hour.

In a large cast-iron pan, heat the vegetable oil over high heat. Drain the meat, discarding the marinade. Working in batches, cook the meat, flipping once, until caramelized and golden, 1 minute per side. Transfer to a platter.

Garnish the bulgogi with the scallions, sesame seeds and more pepper flakes, then serve with steamed rice and kimchi.

Bring to boil, lower heat and simmer partially covered, while you cook the meatballs.

Cook the Meatballs

Heat oil in frying pan and fry meatballs in batches, turning occasionally to brown on all sides. They will not necessarily be cooked thru and this is okay. You just want to get a sear and some colour on them right now.

As you remove the meatballs from the frying pan, transfer directly to the sauce in the pot. Once all meatballs have been fried, continue to simmer in sauce, stirring every once in a while, for about 10 minutes to cook meatballs thru. Be gentle! Stir too roughly and you will break up all those meatballs you just worked so hard to make!

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Yes, I know, I have already posted a chili recipe, but I like this version too. The dried chilies in this recipe add a nice depth of flavour that will help chase away those winter blues. They are easily found here in Mexico, but depending on where you live, you may have to do a bit of searching. If your local grocery doesn’t carry them, look around for a Mexican or East Indian market. They often carry spices that the big name stores do not. I realize it could be a bit of a treasure hunt for some of you, but I’m pretty one bite will convince you that finding the chiles was worth the effort.

This serves 8.

Beef Chili

4 large ancho chiles

2 dried guajillo chiles

2 dried pasilla chiles

3 cups boiling water

3 Tablespoons canola oil

2 kilos boneless beef chuck, cut into 1/2″ slices

Salt & pepper

2 large onions

8 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tablespoon ground cumin

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1 bottle Corona beer (or any other kind you like)

1 14 oz can diced tomatoes

3 Tablespoons brown sugar

1 Tablespoon molasses

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

sour cream and grated cheese for serving

Wipe chiles with a damp paper towel to remove any dust or sediment. Remove stems and seeds from all of them. Tear into large pieces and place in large heat-proof bowl. Pour boiling water over, cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 30 minutes to soften chiles.

Meanwhile, season beef with salt and pepper. Heat oil in large heavy pot over medium-high heat. Working in batches, brown beef on both sides – about 5 minutes per side. Transfer to plate.

Reduce heat to medium add onions and cook, stirring often until onions are translucent and very soft. About 6 – 10 minutes. Add garlic, cook one minute more. Add cumin and oregano and cook, stirring one minute more. Add tomatoes and brown sugar and scrape bottom of pot to loosen any spices stuck to the bottom of the pot. Add the beer, increase heat to high and bring to boil. Reduce heat and let simmer, stirring occasionally, until most of the beer has evaporated. 10 – 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, put chiles and their soaking liquid into blender and blend on high until smooth. About 1 minute. Cut beef into 1/2 inch pieces.

Add beef, chile puree and 2 cups of water to pot. Bring to boil, reduce and let simmer, uncovered, until meat is very tender and liquid has thickened slightly. About 2 hours.

Stir in beans and cook just until they are heated thru, another 5 minutes. Taste and add salt and pepper if needed. Remove from heat and stir in vinegar.

Serve with sour cream, grated cheese and /or whatever else floats your boat on the table so guests can help themselves to toppings. Round the meal out with a salad, baked potatoes or rice and garlic bread.

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One of the best things about going back to Alberta, is of course, THE BEEF!!

I was very fortunate during my last trip home, as we were gifted with the most wonderful beef short-ribs from the farm of a family friend. Yes, free range, grass fed, hormone and antibiotic free (Dare I say organic?) Alberta Beef!

As always when I am home, there isn’t a ton of time to be standing over a stove so we skipped the searing and just popped the roaster straight into the oven. This is a very simple recipe, with the oven doing all the work to bring out the flavour of the meat. You can fancy it up any way you like, if you are so inclined, by using a rub on the ribs, subbing red wine or beef stock for the water or adding additional vegetables to the braise, but the great thing about this recipe is that is excellent just as written.

I was very happy with the way our simple recipe turned out, and think we did that cow proud with our results. I turned the leftovers into a Ragu to serve over pasta later in the week. Predictably, I did not think to take photos of our efforts, but I did find some reasonable likenesses on the good old internet.

Oven-Braised Beef Short Ribs

5 – 6 lbs beef short ribs

3/4 cup water or beef broth

2 onions, sliced

salt and pepper

Mashed potatoes for serving

Preheat oven to 325F. Season ribs with salt and pepper and place in large roaster. Scatter onions over top and add water. Cover tightly with foil or lid and place on rack in middle of oven.

Check after 3 hours, and add a bit of water if most of braising liquid has evaporated.

Continue to cook, covered, for another hour, or so, until meat gives no resistance when pierced with a fork. Remove short ribs to serving platter. Pour braising liquid through a sieve into a bowl, skim fat and serve alongside the ribs and mashed potatoes.

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I love this soup and it is on my ‘Must Eat’ list whenever I am back in Canada. Where we live, Pho can difficult to find. There are 2 restaurants we know of that serve it, and strangely both only offer it on Thursday nights. The one closest to us closes for the summer. So we make our own.

This recipe includes instructions for making your own beef broth, from scratch, but no one will judge you if you skip that part and open a couple of boxes of store-bought low sodium beef broth (See cooks notes below). Toss in some of last nights roast beef or leftover steak, or pork or shredded deli chicken for that matter, and your hungry family will still be awestruck by your amazing cooking abilities.

Heat oil in large stock pot over medium high heat, then, working in batches, brown the bones and beef shanks, about 5 minutes per batch. Transfer browned meat to platter, adding additional oil if needed, as you go.

Once all the beef and bones are browned, cook onion, ginger, white parts of scallions, garlic and jalepeno in same pot over medium heat stirring once in awhile, until onions are soft and beginning to brown. Add cinnamon, star anise and cook, stirring 1 minute longer.

Add browned beef, bones and any accumulated juices back into the pot, along with the water and soya sauce. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer 2 1/2 hours, until meat is tender but not quite falling off the bone.

Using tongs, remove meat and bones from broth. Set aside to cool a bit. Line a fine mesh sieve with a double layer of cheesecloth and strain the broth into another pot. Discard solids, skim off fat. (do ahead: cool broth to room temperature, then refrigerate up to 3 days. Fat will be easier to skim off of the chilled broth, too)

Cook noodles according to package directions.

Meanwhile, cut meat off of bones and into half inch slices and return to broth. Reheat broth and taste for seasoning. You will probably want to add a bit of salt here. Discard bones.

Divide noodles between bowls, ladle broth and meat over top.

Serve hot, with any combination of accompaniments listed above.

COOKS NOTES: If you are not into making your own stock, simmer 2 litres of low sodium beef stock or broth with white parts of the scallions, ginger, garlic jalepeno, cinnamon stick, star anise and soy sauce for about 20 minutes. Remove from heat, strain the scallions and spices out. Add some leftover cooked meat, and voila! Cook the noodles and add your accompaniments. Dinner on the table in less than 40 minutes!!